Town Square

Town Council approves Magee Ranch development

Original post made
on Jun 20, 2013

Sixty-nine new homes will be built along Diablo Road on the Magee Ranch property after town officials approved development plans Tuesday night. Plans to develop the 410-acre site at the southeast corner of Diablo and McCauley roads are two years in the making and the cause of much concern among residents, bicyclists and slow-growth advocates.

Amazing, even more traffic on Diablo road with just jokes as mitigating steps, re-striping the lanes??? Come on. Which genius on our town council came up with the idea to make the developer buy bus passes for the residents?? Is there any buses that stop along Diablo Rd? I've never seen one. Besides, people who will be able to buy these homes will have two Mercedes and a BMW and an Escalade - they are hardly going to ride the bus. It is a another joke to call the "casita" they will build in the backyard something that qualifies for the low income housing requirement. Next election, I will vote no for all existing Danville council members - let's get a new team in.

Posted by diablodave
a resident of Diablo
on Jun 20, 2013 at 9:11 amdiablodave is a registered user.

Alas, the voice of the citizens once again has been drowned out by the ringing of the cash register at the Town Council. I wonder when the next unwelcome development will arise. More importantly, I wonder when (perhaps whether?) our fellow residents realize the cumulative effect of these individual moves negatively impact our quality of life and the ambiance of the community...

When they do and you seek who to blame, look in the mirror. The culprit will be staring back at you.

Like the school ditch day article, it is all about the almighty dollar. When the crime rate goes up in Danville, maybe that will have an impact as nothing else seems to. Although, the kick backs to the Town Council might even be too much for that to impact them.

Interesting use of the word ghetto. I consider ghetto to be the kind of thinking displayed by Chris instead of the type of person feared to live in low cost housing. Danville is not a place that is afraid of people. Stop acting like it.

Posted by C. R. Mudgeon
a resident of Danville
on Jun 20, 2013 at 12:17 pm

What I find interesting is that a previous Express article (linked at the bottom of the same e-mail that this article is linked from) described the Tuesday 6/18 meeting as the "first public hearing" on the project.

But it was also the meeting to vote on the proposal. So apparently the "first" public hearing was also going to be the last "pre-vote" meeting. And also (apparently), the Town Council is super-smart, as they are able to digest public hearing input from the "first public hearing" in just minutes, in order to be able to cast their votes.... (Or did the public hearing part of the meeting take place AFTER the vote??? I'm just kidding about this part, I think, as the article above says that the meeting lasted until 2:00AM - presumably with the vote being at the end, after all but a few die-hard members of the public would have left to go home.)

I also noted that a second "reading" of the development ordinance will take place on July 2nd, obviously after the vote, to fulfill the legal requirement of having two readings. Nice touch....

Actually, my own personal opinion on the plan itself is that it isn't really all that bad, and maybe more "limited" than other plans that might come up later. And I certainly understand the position that the property owners should have at least some ability to make a good return on their sale of their land.

I also think that the part about creating a linking bike/pedestrian trail makes a lot of sense, and provides a decent alternate route for bicyclists, to avoid the most winding and narrow portion of Diablo road (and also providing an alternative to cutting through the Diablo neighborhood). Granted, many bicyclists don't like to ride on bike trails (even when paved), but in this case, the trail seems like a good choice/option.

The traffic issue is still the big one - restriping at the corner of Green Valley and Diablo may help a fair amount. But from memory of the intersection, it would also help more of some limited widening was done on the approach to the intersection (from the east), so that backed-up turning traffic doesn't block the straight-through traffic, and vice versa.

Long story short - it's easy for me to not be that bothered by the deal, since I'm not affected by the added traffic. I have sympathy for those who are affected. But at the same time, it might actually be a better deal than subsequent proposals would be.

What a disappointment - I guess the town council fell for the sob story Jeb Magee gave - this man is not who he appears to be - he is a pompous guy who has used his name and money to get what he wants - and it appears that he is in bed with Summerhill and the town council. I am asking all of the people I know to look up phone numbers for the town council and Summerhill people to call them every time we have a huge traffic problem on Diablo inb the future.

Quail Ridge....K&B development, Summer Hill Homes development.......hum. Looks to me like our deaf City Council is batting two-for-two for the WRONG TEAM.
Developers............2
Citizens of Danville.........0

As for the Summer Hill development entrance sign.....it should read: This development built as a result of proactive developer political contributions to the 2013 Danville City Council.
P.S.
I'll remember how this game is being played in the next Assembly and Council elections.

To KM: The busses currently stop along Blackhawk Rd., and the developer has provided a bus stop in the new neighborhood.

The "casitas" are optional, small 1 bedroom units that are attached to the house. It is doubtful there will any more than a couple in the whole neighborhood that would be rented out to strangers. They're a mother-in-law type unit.

To Diablo Dave: The only cash register I know of in this case is more property taxes for the town, which benefit all.

To Julia: 3 words - just go away.

To Chris: It's ridiculous to use the term "ghetto" here. These are million dollar homes with a small amount of them having 1 bedroom in law type quarters.

To Douglas: The crime rate and kickbacks? No sense addressing.

To Snoop: Well said.

To CR Mudgeon: I agree.

To CL: The complication with the traffic is that it is a town and county problem. The biggest problem is the traffic at the Athenian stop sign, which is in Contra Costa County's jurisdiction.

To Mary: There you all go with this ghetto nonsense again.

To RUkidding: Danville has always been about responsible, slow growth. Recent approvals have been no different.

"Informed":
I'm fine with you calling out the more bigoted people for what they are, but the issue here is not that complicated: our council members & mayor are not carrying out the will of the citizens they represent. They are carrying out the will of a wealthy developer by allowing non-residential land to be converted into altered zoning without a vote. The Danville planning commission is complicit.
I have no worries about "ghetto folk" invading (I'm more worried about walking by Elliot's downtown on a Friday night), but I do care about what is now the third piece of beautiful open space being desecrated by a wealthy special interest. If you are okay with rampant, out of control non-approved re-zoning and development, east Dublin or east San Jose will welcome you with open arms. The turn out at any of the last few public meetings proves beyond doubt that your views are in the minority.

So if I were Jeb Magee (or any other property owner) & wanted to sell my property (that I lived on, paid for, maintained, etc., for decades) and about 200-300 people (not all from Danville) of a potential 40,000+ Danville residents protested against what would be built on my property when sold, what do you think would happen? Nothing. Get over it! The majority of Danville (voting) residents don't care. This development result could have been much worse, as was mentioned. As to the traffic issue (that has been there as long as I have) - the town & county had better get their heads (& dollars) together to fix that. Of course, if Danvillians, Diabloians & Blackhawkians stopped buying cars for their 16 year olds who use that road daily, it would help. However, those of you talking about casitas as "ghetto, low, low income housing" really make me laugh. Let's see - I buy a million+ dollar house with an in-law unit (gee, sounds like the one I live in, but built in the '70's), do you really think I'd use it to rent to a stranger? Would I want someone walking through my private yard at all hours? Not. How about - it's really a cheaper alternative than assisted living for my elderly parents, who want to be somewhat independent, close by & no longer drive? (sorry to deduct from those additional cars you're worried about on the road). How about a little common sense instead of fired-up rhetoric? Until the majority of the 40,000+ residents have a major issue with the town, it won't change the council. The perception is that this is a great town, why mess with it (actually, mostly true). Do you think the majority even know the names of the council members or planning commissioners? No. I know Blackhawk folks who think they live in Danville & get to vote! That's the reality. So, the 200+ folks who show up at meeting have basically been talking to themselves. The rest are home at 2am - sleeping.

Posted by More Informed
a resident of Diablo
on Jun 21, 2013 at 7:23 am

Hey, "informed" You should check your facts before spouting off! The current County Connection Bus pdf Map shows NO bus route east of HWY 680 between Stone Valley Rd and Bollinger Canyon Rd except for a run between Greenbrook and Sycamore Valley. The City Council member who came up with the buss pass idea to be subsidized by the developer was probably thinking of school busses.

On the bus issue. The bus system is TRAFFIX, not County Connection. The two are unrelated. TRAFFIX was set up several years ago as a bus system for children to get to and from school to reduce traffic. It has been very popular and sells out quickly. It has since been expanded to include Monte Vista. You may ask, who's children would ride a bus to high school? The bus sold out in a few days. Last I checked a yearly pass is $250 and 9 San Ramon Valley Schools are in the program including Green Valley and Los Cerros

It's interesting how a few low-information locals who stand to personally benefit from the denial of the right of a property owner to develop his property are able to convince themselves that they represent "the will of the people." Here's a clue: you don't.

The real problem is that when the County (that's the governmental entity which governs unincorporated Alamo, by the way) approved Blackhawk it didn't impose the reasonable traffic mitigation requirements that the Town of Danville does. Now, the problem exists. McGee didn't cause it, and this project didn't cause it. The County caused it when it approved Blackhawk. The mitigation required from this project will help a little - probably more than the additional traffic will hurt. But that's about all you can do at this point.

Blame it on the County; blame it on the folks in Diablo; blame it on Blackhawk. But don't blame Danville. The Town is just dealing with the problem as best it can with the facts that exist and the factors it can control.

Your message directed towards me quote.
"To Julia: 3 words -- just go away". (you and the town council are lucky I do not live in Danville).

Dear Informed or lack of informed...if it wasn't for me and others just like me...your mind would be more dormant than it is already.

But bottom line Dear Informed...thank you for the mention in the above posted message. At least you are reading my informative information and most of all you are taking the time to respond. That my friend, keeps the Danville Express in business.

Thank you for listening and responding, Julia Pardini from Alamo

P.S. I am not going away...EVER...I have lived in the Alamo for over 40 years and I love it...

Its interesting to me that so many people say that they won't be reelecting this Town Council, next election. Wake up people! They were just elected last November, and it was clear at the time that this is the way they would be, but the majority elected them anyway. I didn't vote for any of them, and this is exactly why. The next election is too far away. I say RECALL.

Posted by RUkidding
a resident of Danville
on Jun 21, 2013 at 11:25 am

Hey "Informed".................you're not !!
Anybody who's got "the answer" to all of of the comments made by the people who respond to this article is suffering from some form of an ego rant identical to our elected Council members. Of particular note is your comment to Julia......real classy !!! Apparently Julia you don't have aright to your opinion or thoughts on this issue.....even though you're right on with your position of Danville residents now having to live with the result of our pathetically arrogant "INFORMED" Council.

The lack of intelligence and common sense on this thread is alarming. Julia, Chris, Douglas, and RUKidding, I hope you do not have children you can pass on your incomplete genetic code to. Do you people actually read the nonsense you post? Julia, you post so much rubbish on all the Danville Weekly boards - do you have a life? Your posts all say the same thing "you are fools in Danville, you're corrupt, life is so much better in county controlled Alamo, blah, blah, blah." It's people like you who have ruined this site.

Posted by RUkidding
a resident of Danville
on Jun 21, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Just got word tonight that the property for sale on the corner of Diablo Rd. across from the Nursery has been sold and an application to build Condos there has been proposed by a developer. Hope it's not true but if it is .....it's good development news for you INFORMED supporters of the Council. Maybe they too will have Casatias. Wonder what the campaign donations will cost for that project ?

Posted by Born in Danville
a resident of Danville
on Jun 22, 2013 at 9:46 am

For the most part, Danville has done a good job of planning developments. I do have to question the eye sore along 680 which use to be the Elworthy Ranch. How they can let the builder put up a wall that blocks the view of Las Trampas ridge is beyond me. All the greeen space they allocated is behind the ugly wall and out of view of the public. I hope Summerhill is more asthetically pleasing.

As for future voting practices, I have given up any hope on that front. The people in this state continues to vote in people like Dianne Fienstein, Nancy Pelosi, and Barb Boxer without ever holding them accountable for the state economy, poor conditions of the roads, penal system, welfare system, etc. They have all been in office for more than 30 years so it is very hard to argue they aren't responsible in one way or the other.

One thing is for certain, you can't please all the people all the time!

It's amazing how many people comment on things they know nothing about. I actually live in the area and fight the traffic every day. The people who don't live in the area don't care and they are the ones that re-elected the town council members. They don't have to deal with traffic here on a daily basis.

KM: Restriping the lanes will actually help. When traffic is backed up, the lanes go from 1 to 4 in a matter of feet and the cars can't get to the light fast enough while it is green for traffic to flow. Extending the length of those lanes will allow more traffic to get through to the uncongested part of Diablo Road on the same length of green light, making it better for cars coming the other directions as well.

What none of this will fix is the backed up traffic along Green Valley Road that actually got worse when they added buses to Monte Vista because someone thought it was a good idea to close the horseshoe where parents used to be able to drop off quickly and get out of traffic. Now everyone has to sit through one overly congested light into the high school parking lot, which backs up Stone Valley, Green Valley, and Diablo Roads. Finding a way to open the horseshoe again would do even more than re-striping the lanes, but no one is alert enough to see that that's what happened and I haven't been able to get anyone to listen.

More Informed: You made a fool of yourself. You aren't informed at all. The stipulation that they get Traffix school bus passes was very clear. And everyone uses them, no matter what kind of car they drive because it beats spending an hour in traffic to take your kid to school.

Sue: If you lived 2 miles from Monte Vista and you could choose to buy your 16 year old a car or spend 2 hours a day driving to and from the school, thereby creating more traffic on your return trips, what would you do? I suspect you would do the same thing we did and get your kid a car! Even with the carpools we can work out around A periods and after-school activities, we spend way too much time in the car.

And you all think it;s bad now? Read the other article about Diablo Country Club getting fed up with all the bikes speeding through their neighborhood ignoring traffic laws and planning to close their streets to through traffic. Then all those bikes are going to be on the winding part of Diablo Road too and traffic will have to slow to 10 miles an hour because there isn't room to pass them without taking your life in your hands. It's going to get really ugly if they don't start fixing these problems!

Posted by Bike R Dan
a resident of Danville
on Jun 23, 2013 at 1:59 pm

How bout getting kids to ride bikes. Bunch of privileged brats from what I can tell. There is not one kid that lives too far that they can't get on a bike and get there themselves. I say close the parking lots and open bike racks. There are few complainers here that would even contemplate such a bold move as to require the trendy high school, middle school and elem school to do something so beneath them. That would be too much. Much easier to complain about Magee and the Town Council. Well think of it this way... How are you bought off that you can't even get your littlens on a bike to school!!! Is it so hard for them to ride a few miles. boo hoo... wimpy dips if you ask me. The lament... the traffic is so bad because of school, all these kids, moms, dads, teens need to be in cars to get there. Oh poor me. I am glad the Town Council approved this thing. Maybe look in the mirror and try to require biking or walking.

Bike R Dan you sound a bit bitter? I certainly don't want my kids riding a bike down Diablo to MV. Maybe you didn't live here a number of years ago when Troy and Alana Pack were on a very visible SIDEWALK on their scooter and bike and got run down and killed by a driver. It is not about having our "littlens" riding a bike, it is about their safety while on one!!

Gee, Julia, I live a mile+ from MV. My kids did not get a car at 16. (they also do not get the latest designer's name on their jeans). Either I drove, carpooled, or they walked - novel idea, I know. They seemed to survive just fine. IF there was a bus, they could have taken that.

I loved how the folks from Diablo came to protest Magee Ranch (like they can vote in Danville) & the traffic problems, e.g., "someone will be killed," etc., - then decide they don't want bikers taking the "safer" route through Diablo to the mountain. Yep, all those terrible bikers flying over those Diablo speed bumps are a real hazard. Can't have it both ways, people! Talk about NIMBY.

Douglas, yes I chose a bitter tone, to illustrate a point. It reflects the NIMBY whiner tone re traffic issues from Magee. From my experience, the main problem is kids travelling in cars to four different schools in the vicinity. Let's focus on fixing that.

There was a recent article in Danville Express about SRVUSD hosting a Get-to-school-on-your-own-power 2 week period. They boast of the success. Well put it this way, the success was just putting the event on. Participation was under 7% of the school kid population!!! I assume that at least 7% already get to schools on their own. That is horrible. No wonder Magee's excellent proposal got shot down due to traffic, the cars that are causing the traffic jams that everybody is complaining about are full of students.

So afraid to have your kids get to school due to the Park tragedy? Well then I am sure you won't give them a car when they become teenagers, just look at the number of deaths in Danville and Alamo alone of teens in cars. They far outnumber the Park tragedy. So that is just a misguided excuse.

Apparently Biker R Dan you didn't live around here when Troy and Alana PACK were killed because you can't even get their name right. If you had any idea of the pain that family has gone through you wouldn't be so quick to judge. I had no problem with my kids using people power for the middle school they went to, but we are far enough away from MV it would just be idiotic – both for safety and time as high schoolers need as much sleep as possible with all of the school and activities they try to cram in for colleges. It seems like you don't have any children of your own and don't have patience for those of us who do and look out for their best interests. Also, if you had kids in the district you would also be aware of the numerous District wide e-mail blasts about strangers in vans attempting to talk (and possibly kidnap) students. You really need to be aware of what is going on in the world around you before you start mouthing off!

Yes, I am sorry I got the names wrong, that was a typo. This all relates back to the arguments used against the Magee Ranch proposal being based in part on terrible traffic along the Diablo Rd corrider, most significantly at the South Gate Rd. stop sign and the Green Valley Rd intersection. The city council saw through that NIMBYism, knowing full well that a traffic study coupled with easy improvements on striping would reduce the impact, and address those that felt it should not happen. Well they were right to. Because if people really cared about the traffic, they would spend the time, now that the Magee proposal has been approved, coming up with feasible solutions to getting students out of cars. This won't happen of course as it is far easier to raise a verbal dust-up than it is to make meaningful progress on reducing traffic by getting kids out of cars. My belief is that the city council will look at this argument, assess whether the NIMBYs do anything on their own to reduce traffic, and then come to the conclusion that they were correct in approving the development.

BTW, I was not judging the Pack's and that issue. Consider that everyone makes their own choices as to their and their kids safety. However, you proferred the argument that because of the Pack's misfortune that it was not safe to have kids get to school on their own. In all my 25+ years in Danville, that was the only instance that I can remember where something like that happened, but there have been 10s and 10s of highschoolers that have been killed by cars, whether they were driving or someone else... and yet we still give kids cars and let them drive in other kids cars and let them go out at nigth to who knows where, and in many cases to drink and smoke, unbeknownst to parents.

As for teens needing as much sleep as possible, maybe better balanced schedules would be a better idea. So many kids are so busy because they are being helicoptered into doing so much to get into college.

Maybe to solve the drop off school rush, folks can establish several drop off points 1/2 mile to 1 mile from school, and dropping off kids at school costs $5 each, Easy to set up a FastTrak system for that. And while we are at it, why not charge, or if they are already, increase the price, for the Highschoolers for their parking spots, so they can raise money as well.

From your answer, it still sounds like you have never had children either go through this district or had children at all? There have been other bike/car incidents that just haven’t made the paper or news because no one was horribly injured or killed.

Obviously, you have no idea the traffic issues with Green Valley, Los Cerros and Monte Vista. The TRAFFIX buses (which only bus 5ish% of the students) actually made it worse because the pick-up horseshoe at the high school is closed while the buses are there leading to a disastrous situation for the rest of us. And to educate you, kids can’t drive other kids, except their siblings until they have had their license for a year or until they are 18 which means most of them are in a car by themselves and they have an 11:00 curfew so the roads are safer than they used to be.

With regard to kids being helicoptered into college, most of the kids are self- driven and apparently you are so out of touch you have no idea what it takes to get in these days.

On your final thought, do you want to volunteer to have a drop off point in front of your house for the students? Didn’t think so and the school already does charge the students for parking passes and not everyone can get one so many students already do carpool who have been driving for that year or are 18!

Again, you need to do some research as you really don’t have the information you need.

Posted by Bike R Dan
a resident of Danville
on Jun 25, 2013 at 1:39 pm

Guess what, Keep giving the same reasons over and over again until your blue in the face. I didn't coddle my kids and if people are real serious about traffic during school hours, they can come up with some solutions that rely on their own devices rather than pretending that "the evil bought-off government" is supposed to do something. Based on your analysis of not riding due to the huge number of deaths and kidnappings from walking and riding, then for sure you will not be letting your teens drive cars, because the accident statistics are MUCH WORSE. And for sure you will put on real time GPS tracking on their phones so you know where they are at all times. Nothing worse that hypocritical arguments.
I did not sit through those traffic jams, you are right. I let my kids out of the car and they walked... what a concept

Posted by Citizen Paine
a resident of Danville
on Jun 25, 2013 at 3:23 pm

There is a very human tendency to generalize from one horrible incident, and over-react to it to make bad rules -- as they say in the law: hard cases make bad law. Without in any way diminishing the gut-wrenching tragedy of the Pack family, it was an exceedingly low-probability event, and it does not generalize properly to cloistering our kids.

In any situation involving risk -- by which I mean everything in life -- you can either manage the risk or avoid it. My kid rode to two different schools in Danville (Grn Valley and CWood), but I made dam-sure she understood the precautions and the places where she Really needed to pay attention. It was good exercise and an excellent lesson in life management.

The fact that someone once got hit by lightning means I take precautions, but I still 'manage' to leave the house when it rains.

Posted by Property Rights
a resident of Danville
on Jun 27, 2013 at 12:12 pm

Have you people ever re read anything you've posted on here ?
Besides Huh?, Really, Sue and a few others the litany of ignorant bullshit and selfish IGMFY (i've got mine fuck you) attitude that is unfortunately prevalent in this area is flat out astonishing.
Check the facts and legal requirements both state, county and city before you lose yourself in a sea of emotional irrational based bitching frenzy.
If Jed Magee wants to sell his property thats his right (and astonishing to most, actually well within his legal rights to sell to a developer within the confines of zoning and city ordinances put in place for development). If anyone of you wanted to sell or subdivide your property there would be nothing to say about it. Just because his property is bigger doesn't mean that his property rights are subordinate to yours.
Oh and as for the traffic it is a current issue based on a number of factors not brought on by this project.
It astounds me some of you have been successful enough in life to end up living in this great and affluent community.
But hey even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and again. Stupid is as stupid does.